Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on September 19, 2011 by Derek Kwait
It occurred to me that as a new blogger and new face around Pardes, many of you may not know who I am. To bring a tikkun to this situation, I decided I should share the author’s bio from my thesis novella, Masters of Turning: derek m. kwait is Scholastic’s hottest new author with the Continue Reading »
Posted on September 19, 2011 by Andrea Wiese
Over the past weekend, my school had a “Shabbaton” which means a rest. The actual explanation is like a weekend retreat. The whole weekend was very beautiful with a lot of bonding and relaxing. I got to play some basketball on Shabbat with some of my classmates too! One of the highlights was during free Continue Reading »
Posted on September 18, 2011 by Andrea Wiese
I know that eating should be a simple thing, but it’s hard to eat well when someone is so busy. I don’t feel like I had time to cook this week because I was on a weekend retreat with my school. Today my lunch was carrots, a lox and cheese sandwich and an orange. Actually Continue Reading »
Posted on September 16, 2011 by David Bogomolny
“All of my grandparents were holocaust survivors, and they all grew up in traditional Jewish families in Hungary… I want to be a part of the tradition that they grew up with… and at Pardes, I can begin to reclaim it.” Amy arranged her arrival to Israel to overlap with the final weeks of her Continue Reading »
Posted on September 14, 2011 by Andrea Wiese
Erev seders are not what some one might think a seder would be, and erev means night. So at first I thought it meant that we would be having seders once a week at night to learn how to set up and lead our own seders. Well, I was sadly surprised to learn that this Continue Reading »
Posted on September 14, 2011 by Andrea Wiese
Today we had our first Educators Program tiyul. The good thing was that I had never been to any of the places where we went before. The bad news was, I was tired, and the guide was very informative and nice, but not so funny and I had a hard time paying attention. We first Continue Reading »
Posted on September 13, 2011 by Derek Kwait
(Cross-posted from my blog for “The Jewish Chronicle of Pittsburgh”, Yinzer in Yerushalayim.) I am writing this now on a mirpeset* (even people who don’t speak Hebrew call them mirpesets here, and it’s already become such second-nature for me that I can’t go back) with a sweeping view of Jerusalem at night, including the lit-up Continue Reading »
Posted on September 13, 2011 by Derek Kwait
(First published on my blog for “The Jewish Chronicle” of Pittsburgh, Yinzer in Yerushalayim, 9 September 2011) Sunday was orientation at Pardes. The getting-to-know-you introductions at the beginning made one thing clear straight-away—this is a place of diversity. The students at Pardes range from future Open Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform rabbis, to a dude who’s Continue Reading »
Posted on September 13, 2011 by Derek Kwait
(First published on my blog with “The Jewish Chronicle” of Pittsburgh, Yinzer in Yerushalayim 4 September 2011.) Thank God, everything arrived on time. From getting the Mega Bus in Pittsburgh ($1.50 ticket!) to the planes at JFK and Kiev, I had no problems. By far the best part of the trip though was getting to Continue Reading »
Posted on September 13, 2011 by The Director of Digital Media
Let’s meet some more of this year’s Pardes Fellows! Kalie is originally from Phoenix, Arizona, and before arriving in Israel, she was completing her undergraduate degree in American Studies at George Washington University (where she also directed a hip hop dance company!). In the fall of 2010, she was gearing up to begin an M.A. in Media and Public Affairs at Continue Reading »
